Beijing has banned state television from airing the Oscars award ceremony next month, an instruction that comes after “Do Not Split,” a film about the Hong Kong protests, made the cut for the final nomination list.
Staff working in the state media department told Radio Free Asia that besides from the TV ban, outlets have also been ordered to down play coverage of the international award show and selectively broadcast parts that are “not sensitive.”
Another reason cited for the directive is the multiple nominations that Chinese filmmaker Chloe Zhao has received. Zhao, who was born in Beijing but moved abroad as a teenager, has criticized China in past media interviews.
The 38-year-old, the director of “Nomadland,” is up for four awards including best adapted screenplay and best film editing.
The Oscars will take place on April 25 at the Dolby Theatre in California.
Directed by Norwegian documentarian Anders Hammer, “Do Not Split” is among the five works nominated for best short documentary category.
The 35-minute film chronicles the mass marches against the extradition law in the summer of 2019, the movement’s gradual descent into violence, and the tense climate in the lead up to Beijing’s passing of the national security law.
Its name is a reference to the Cantonese protest maxim emphasizing unity among protesters, roughly translated as “Do not split, do not divide, do not snitch on others.”
